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Anya Matherson
Anya Rose Matherson is a main character in the Avengers story Avenue of Hope, ''but she appears only as memories or a mention in the sequel ''Boulevard of Broken Dreams. She's average height at 5"6, 23 years old throughout the story, born on the 30th of April, 1989. She was born in Tokyo, Japan, but as her father is in the army, she has lived in many places. She is known for having become filled with the escence of the Bifrost, following the events of Thor, and her own fateful car accient. 'Background' Anya’s father is a Captain in the army, and as such, she and her whole family have spent their entire lives moving from place to place. She never lived in one location for more than a few months, and as such grew up without a lot of solid contact with people. Both of her parents are American, so even though she was born in Japan, and has spent hardly any time in the US, that is her citizenship. She had a relatively happy childhood, but her parents were so often occupied with their jobs, that they didn’t get to spend as much time with their children as was probably best. She has a very close relationship with her siblings though, and they’re like a group of best friends as well as relatives. However, as much as she did love the travel involved with her father’s job, she wanted to be able to settle down in one place for at least a year at a time, and have something of a stable life. So as soon as she finished homeschooling and turned 18, she moved away from her family and began attending university at Edinburgh University, in Scotland. During this time, she studied Social Anthropology, as she found the study of human interaction/behaviour fascinating. She graduated from the university at 21, but rather than choosing to go on with a Masters degree, she opted to take some time out and travel around Europe, because her father had been posted in predominantly Asian countries, she wanted to experience more of a western culture. When her brother, Simon, turned 21 and graduated from Stanford, she returns to America to do some travelling there with him, which was something she promised to do when she left the family. When they were driving through New Mexico, they went into a headlong crash with a truck, Anya was killed instantly, but Simon was only seriously injured. However, at the exact same time that she died, Thor shattered the Bifrost in Asgard. The coinciding moment of the two events, and the fact that the last place to which the Bifrost was opened was New Mexico, caused the energy that made the Bifrost what it was, to flood into the now absent vessel that was Anya’s body. Due to this, she returned to life, being animated by the Bifrost, but that it all that is keeping her alive. Doctors who had to fight to keep Simon alive, were baffled by the fact that Anya was still alive. The Bifrost had put life back into her, but she still retained some injuries from the crash, and was also in a coma state for several days, as her body healed, and her mind adjusted to what was now filling it. When she and her brother were discharged from the hospital, he was as confused as she was, having been conscious enough to watch as the Bifrost filled her. Neither of them know exactly what happened, and Anya starts to have strange dreams of the different realms, influenced by the Bifrost. 'Appearance' Anya has light brown hair, that falls to mid-back in a mixture of frizz and wave. Her eyes are also brown, but much darker than her hair, occasionally look black in low lighting. She has a pale complexion, with a light scattering of freckles across her pretty face. A scar runs down her right arm, and she also has two parallel scars on her right cheek, from where glass cut her in the car accident. 'Personality' She used to be a pretty optimistic and happy kind of person, and her family remembers her as the one to always be able to cheer them up, but that changed after the accident. She became more serious, and her moods were less under her control, her anger now flares up at the slightest provocation, and she can be quite confrontational. She doesn’t easily make new friends, after such a hectic childhood, and is uncomfortable around new people. She’s also a bit of an introvert, liking her own company, and she has trouble admitting if she needs help. Anya’s sense of humour runs along slightly dark/sarcastic lines 'Ambitions' When she’s done travelling, she wanted to go back to university and do a Masters degree in Social Anthropology. But after her accident, and the events that that incurred, she’s no longer sure where her future stands. 'Powers' Since becoming a vessel for the Bifrost, she inherited abilities that came along with that. When she dreams, she often mentally drifts through the other realms, even though she doesn’t realise that that’s what she was doing at first. She can use it to teleport to other places and realms, though the latter takes more concentration and effort. She can also time travel with it, but if she is going to try and do something that will change history, she will be unable to move. If it’s just a little thing, she is able to move freely. These powers come at a cost though, because the Bifrost is the thing keeping her alive, it is her energy that is using the powers, so she is left weak after accessing them, this weakness is related to how strong a power she used. And because the Bifrost was never meant to be possessed by a single being, it’s burning her up. When she used the powers, her eyes become filled with rainbow swirls, like the original Bifrost colours. 'Strengths' Anya is a very independent person, and is able to be on her own without feeling like she’s longing for other company. She’s got a logical thought process, and will think out the most practical solution to a problem, then follow it through; unless it involves someone she cares about getting hurt. 'Weaknesses' She isn’t good at opening up and making new friends, and she often omits just how bad things might be for her so that other people won’t worry so much. Her new quick temper leads to her lashing out at people. Anya is also very good at making herself think that something is a certain way, when it might not actually be like that, and it takes a lot to convince her otherwise. 'Habits' Anya is very bad at lying, and will avoid eye contact/fiddle if she even attempts telling one. She frequently plays with her hair absentmindedly, and mentally drifts, staring off into space. She also has a habit of letting herself slip into a state where she believes something that isn’t true, much to the annoyance of others. 'Relationships' 'Family' 'Garret Matherson' He is very much focused on his career, and as such has never spent all that much time with his family, however, he does love his children very much. Anya and her father had a somewhat strained relationship, as she was eldest he wanted her to perhaps do something military like him, but she never wanted that. And they had differing opinions on many things, frequently debating whenever he did take time off to spend with his family. Despite this, she has a high degree of respect and love for her father, and remembers all of the life lesson he taught her when she was growing up. When she moved away from home, he was against it as he liked having his children close, but she stays in contact with him and doesn’t hesitate to ask him for advice. She trust his counsel above almost all other people’s. 'Diana Matherson' She knew that she’d be moving around a lot when she married Garret, thanks to his career, and was okay with that fact. She has a close bond with her four children, and because the five of them had semi-enclosed lives living on the military bases, they all learnt to live and cope with one another effectively. She and Anya are semi-distant however, because Anya never really felt like she fit in with her family, and always wanted to move off and be different. Diana regrets the arguments that she and her daughter had prior to Anya leaving, and instantly flew to New Mexico when she heard about Anya’s accident. After that, Anya and Diana were closer after that. 'Simon Matherson (b. 1991)' Anya and Simon were the closest out of all the Matherson siblings, because they both thought alike and had similar ideas about what they thought life should be like/what they wanted out of it. When she left home, Simon was the one that she missed most, which is why she made the deal with him to go travelling after he graduated. During the accident, he saw what happened when the Bifrost entered her, and was considerably shocked/puzzled by it. While he was recovering from his injuries, and doctors were baffled as to how Anya had survived, he thought that he might have imagined it. But when Anya was allowed in to see him, one look at his sister told him otherwise. He asked her about it, and until S.H.I.E.L.D found out about her, he was the only one who knew the extent of what happened. She trusts her little brother more than anyone else, and he in turn is the same with her. Being apart was never something that they liked, and when S.H.I.E.L.D wanted to take her in and find out what exactly she was, she insisted that he come with her. 'Ryann Matherson (b. 1993)' He, out of all the Matherson children, is the only one who wants to follow his father in the military career. He is a very straightforward, logical, no-nonsense type of person, and was frequently teased for his seriousness by his siblings. Because the others were always more free-spirit types, Ryan sometimes felt out of place, or too old for his time, and grew into a strong-and-silent type of man. Anya would always be the person most able to bring Ryan out of his shell into having at least a little more fun than he did normally, and he noticed her new found seriousness most keenly after her accident. When he was killed by Loki’s attack on the training base he was stationed at, Anya was hit extremely hard by the news, and the fact that Loki made it look like S.H.I.E.L.D could’ve prevented it if they’d reacted in time was a step in getting her away from them. 'Jenna Matherson (b.1995)' The youngest out of four siblings, she sometimes felt as if she was being left behind somehow, but that was only ever really felt once all of her elder siblings moved out of home. Anya and Jenna, as the only girls, would frequently team up against their brothers while they were all growing up. Despite the six year age gap, the sisters were very close, and Jenna misses Anya a lot, especially as they’ve had very little contact that wasn’t over the phone/skype. Jenna is slightly more intuitive than the rest of her family, and picks up that more has changed about Anya than just her being in the accident, and she becomes increasingly worried that something ‘bad’ is coming. 'Friends/Other' 'Vasilisa Verochka' Due to the fact that, despite Vasya having been a part of M.I.R.R.O.R, the both of them are new to S.H.I.E.L.D, the pair of them are kind of thrown together a lot, and become good friends. After Vasya helped break Anya out of M.I.R.R.O.R, a shaky kind of trust started between them, and after the pair of them were kind of thrown into the mix of S.H.I.E.L.D together, that strengthened to friendship. She felt close to the Russian girl, as the both of them had powers that weren’t naturally theirs, and were sometimes beyond their control. Also because they were both in a completely new situation, but Vasya had long been working in this kind of thing, and so Anya looked to her for advice/pointers a lot. When Vasya betrayed them, Anya was crushed, and felt that all her human study had been for nothing if she couldn’t see that someone as close to her as Vasya had been wasn’t genuine. When Vasya returns, Anya is slow to give back the trust that was lost, but the girls do eventually reconcile. By the end of Avenue of Hope, Anya and Vasya have been through so much together, that they are like best friends. 'James Barnes' After Bucky is freed from Loki’s control and begins working with S.H.I.E.L.D, he and Anya become friends as he gets closer to Vasilisa, and she is trying to get closer to Steve. The pair of them share a sense of humour, and frequently crack similar kinds of jokes, ganging up together against the other Avengers. Bucky is sympathetic to her about having the Bifrost take over her, as the experimentation done on him to make him the Winter Soldier involved a similar thing of being given abilities he didn’t know how to control. He thinks of her as something akin to a little sister, and she in turn adopts him as the big brother she never had. Bucky does care for and worry about her, and vice versa. After Vasilisa’s betrayal, the both of them are hurt by it, and relate a little more to each other. He never grows tired of cracking jokes about her and Steve, much to her embarrassment when she thought her feelings weren’t returned, and the embarrassment of both when they did begin a relationship. 'Thor' Because Thor is the only one on earth, aside from Loki, who knows anything about the Bifrost, he and Anya spend a lot of time together as he tries to teach her about it, and how to control it. He understands more than anyone just how dangerous her powers are, and he is cautious about how much he tells her, not wanting her to attempt anything that might lead to her death. While Thor is concerned about the Bifrost being inside a human, as time goes on, he comes to see Anya are an extremely close friend, and is now more hesitant about her giving it up. But together, in secret, they are the ones who agree that it is best for all if the Bifrost is returned to bridge state in Asgard. Agreeing to what is in essence her death, Thor feels extremely guilty, especially as they can’t tell anyone else because they’d be stopped. 'Tony Stark' Tony finds Anya interesting, as something of a study, and is heavily intrigued by her powers and her nature. They both have a good gauge on reading people, and frequently have obvious conversations in front of those that they are discussing. He appreciates the witty banter that she slings his way, and is happy to reciprocate. To him, she is something like a god-daughter or niece after a while, and he becomes quite protective of her. He also understands some of what she’s going through, when the palladium core of his arc-reactor was poisoning him, that experience is akin to what she is going through with the Bifrost burning her up. Because of that understanding, he’s a little more lenient with her occasionally erratic behaviour than others, and gives her the off bit of deep wisdom. 'Bruce Banner' No one understands powers that you can’t control fully better than Bruce Banner, and while Anya can control her powers after a time, while she’s still learning Bruce is the one she looks to on advice about how to manage it as best she can. She is originally nervous of him, having heard all of the stories about the Hulk. But she comes to see the real person that Bruce is, and respects him in almost the same light she holds her father. 'Natasha Romanov' As Natasha is the only other female Avengers, aside from Anya and Vasilisa, she becomes somewhat of a mentor to both girls (for a second time in Vasya’s case). Anya looks up to the agent a lot, and takes almost all of her advice straight to heart. Natasha worries about Anya, and how she’s coping with the Avengers/Bifrost, often trying to reach out to her. Anya doesn’t want to do anything that might disappoint Natasha, as she really does think of her as a mentor. 'Clint Barton' She meets Clint under similar circumstance to meeting Bucky, namely, fighting against him when he comes after Loki and the iridium on board S.H.I.E.L.D’s ship. In spite of that, they do form a cordial/respect based kind of friendship. His humour is sometimes dark, like her’s, and they often share a deadpan way of talking that confuses people as to whether they’re joking or being serious. 'Enemies' 'Loki' He is the only person on earth, aside from Thor, who contains knowledge of the Bifrost and its abilities. When he found out that he had lost the iridium, and that S.H.I.E.L.D had ensured the destruction of all iridium on earth, he turned to Anya as his backup plan, knowing that the power of the Bifrost would be able to stably operate the tesseract. He at first just tempted her by telling her that Thor wasn’t telling her everything, and he could show her how to really control her powers. And later, he staged an attack on a military training camp, the same one that her younger brother Ryan was stationed at, making it look as if it could have been stopped by S.H.I.E.L.D, had they acted. He used Anya, knowing that overuse of the Bifrost in keeping the portal open would burn her up, and while he had her under his control he played mind-games with her, playing on her insecurities. 'Love Interest' 'Steve Rogers' Anya’s relationship with Steve is…complicated, to begin with. She falls for him fairly quickly, being taken with his quiet and serious nature, and how he’s not like other guys she knows (something to do with how he acts, his mannerisms being from the 40s). She tries to help him adjust to living in a new time, and has made a couple of jumps to the past to pick up things that he lost (i.e. the compass.) She knows that he’s going through a lot with waking up in the future, and after hearing about Peggy and his relationship with her, she thinks that he might just need closure on that or something. But when she takes him back to the 40s so that he can have his dance with her (as that doesn’t mess with time in any serious way), she sees how happy he is with her, and the way they act with each other, and realises that she’s just being selfish, and all that she wants is for him to be happy. She thinks that having his past relationship with Peggy is what makes him happy, so she backs off and desperately tries to mentally friend-zone him, convincing herself that he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. However, he did actually achieve closure and starts to fall for her, but she has put herself into a state where she no longer sees it. When they do eventually reach a point where they start a relationship, she acknowledges that it’s not like anything she’s had before, and she really does love him. She trusts him more than anyone, and puts him at the top of her priority list, the both of them are the main things that aid the other in getting over things that they couldn’t let go of. When she comes to the knowledge that the Bifrost is slowly burning her up, she knows that she has to give it back to the bridge in Asgard, but knows that if she tells Steve about that, he won’t let her sacrifice herself, despite it being the only real option, he’d try to find a way out of it. Not telling Steve before she goes to die is the thing she feels most guilty about, and he is heartbroken when Thor brings her body back to earth.